Potato cleaning and assorting machine.



J. A. BITTLB.

POTATO CLEANING AND ASSORTING MACHINE. I

APPLICATION FILED APR. 1, 1909.

948,842, Patented Feb. 8, 1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES. INVENTOI? ATTORNEYS J. A. BITTLE.

POTATO CLEANING AND ASSORTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 1, 1909.

Patented Feb. 8, 1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2. 6 11. L A3 ATTORNEYS J. A. BITTLB.

POTATO CLEANING AND ASSORTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED APR. 1, 1909.

WITNESSES:

Patented Feb. 8, 1910.

4 SHEET$SHEET 3.

ATTORNEYS anew B. GRAHAM no. Pnmaumocnnvxzns wAsmrmToN. v l1 J. A.BITTLE.

POTATO CLEANING AND ASSORTING MACHINE.

I APPLICATION FILED APR. 1, 1909.

948,842. Patented Feb. 8, 1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

WITNESSES: l/VLEA/TOH fijwzz zw W ATTORNEYS Aiwnzw a GRAHAM c0v PHOYDLITNOGRAPNERS WASHINGTON. uj

JOHN ALFRED IBITTLE, OF CRESSONA, PENNSYLVANIA.

POTATO CLEANING AND ASSORTING MACHINE.

To all. whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN ALFRED BITTLE, residing at Cressona, in thecounty of Schuylkill and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new andImproved Potato Clean- .ing and Assorting Machine, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention has for its purpose to pro- 'vide an improvedconstruction of machine for cleaning and assorting potatoes, in whichthe cooperative parts are so combined and arranged whereby to provide acompact, readily accessible, durable, eficient and reliable means of thecharacter stated, that can be economically made and easily operated.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention generallycomprehends the improved construction and arrangement of a framing thatforms the housing for the op erative parts, that comprise a peculiarlysuspended and constructed shaker having a plurality of separating sievesor screens arranged and adjusted to opposing inclinations therein;improved means for varying the inclination of one or more of the sieves,

and crank or other power actuated mechanism for imparting the requiredmotion to the shaker.

In its more specific nature, my invention consists in certain details ofconstruction and combination of parts, all of which will be hereinafterfully described, specifically pointed out in the appended claims andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1, is a sideelevation of my invention. Fig. 2, is an end elevation thereof. Fig. 3,is a longitudinal section of the same, taken substantially on the line3--3 on Fig. 2. Fig. 4, is a transverse section of the same on the line4% on Fig. 3. Fig. 5, is a detail view in perspective of the means forvarying the inclination of the sieves hereinafter referred to. Fig. 6,is a detail view of a portion of one of the separating sieveshereinafter referred to. Fig. 7, is a detail view of the lower end ofone of the sieves, and shows the same as elevated above the end closurebelow it.

In the practical application of my invention, I provide a rigid framethat preferably consists of four uprights or corner posts 1, 2, 3, 4tjoined by the horizontal side beams 5-6 and 78, and the several cross orend Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed April 1, 1909.

Patented Feb. s, ie 'o. Serial No. 487,179.

beams 910l1-l2 suitably braced by the members 6 or otherwise heldtogether in a manner to form a simple and substantial support on whichto mount the internal operative parts, the hopper 13 and the deliverychutes 14., 15 and 16 that are relatively arranged in a manner clearlyunderstood from the drawings and which will hereinafter be againreferred to.

The internal or operative parts comprises generally speaking, a shakerformed of two closed side members 1718 and relatively fixedly held by anumber of cross members 192'7 inclusive and each of which willhereinafter be specifically located with respect to the said sides17-18, the said members providing the means for mounting and adjustingthe separating sieves 28 and 29 and the cleaning screen 30 to thedesired positions.

The sieves 28 and 29 that effect the separations or assorting of thepotatoes, and the screen 30 that separates the trash and dirt from thelast sized potatoes, are pitched to opposing inclinations, alternately,and are arranged so as to produce a compact machine of large capacity.

The arrangement of the several sieves and the screen mentioned is bestshown in Figs. 3 and a, by reference to which it will also be seen thatthe side members 17-18 of the shaker carry small plates 31 (see alsoFig. 5), each having a series of segmentally arranged notches 31 inwhich the lower end of the sieves 28 and 29 can be adjustably fitted toafford means for varying the inclination of the said sieves foraccelerating or retarding the movement of the potatoes in passing overthem, as desired.

It will be noticed from Fig. 3 that at the discharge end of the hopperbottom are located two of the cross members 25 and 26, the one 25 beinginclined and forming a closure between the hopper and the member 26which is also inclined and forms a chute for leading the potatoes ontothe upper or large mesh sieve plate 28, the upper end of which rests inan offset or seat 26 on the end of the member 26 and the other or lowerend engages its coincident notched plates 31.

32 designates an adjustable guide board located just below the receivingend of the sieve 28, and slidably mounted on cleats 32 on the sides 17and 18, said guide board 32 being provided for regulating the point ofdischarge of the first separations or assortment of the potatoes ontothe second or lower sieve 29, it being clear that the shifting of themember 32 may be readily effected since it is slidable 011 the cleats 32and that the smaller sizes of potatoes that drop through the aperturesare delivered onto the head end of the sieve 29, to thereby cause themto travel over the full length 'of the said sieve 29 and producing afiner separation than if they only passed over a portion of said sieve29.

The shaker is suspended in the main framing by the hangers 3-l35-36 and37 that are pendent from the upper beams 5 and 7 to allow for impartinga vibratory or recip rocating motion to the said shaker, which mo tion Iprefer to acquire through the medium of the mechanism shown in thedrawings and which comprises an eccentric 38 whose rod 39 is bifurcatedto form portions 39 that extend inwardly and are secured to the sides 17and 18, the outer or solid part of the rod 39 extending through a slot10 in the end board 20 that form the front closure part of the shakerand has the usual eccentric strap for fitting the eccentric 38, that issecured to the main shaft 41 journaled in the bearing boxes 48, 4L9 and50 on the vertical frame members 2el as best shown in Fig. 2.

Shaft 41 carries a pinion l2 that meshes with a gear 13 on a crank shafta4. mounted in the boxes 5l52 on the main frame member 1 and the subframe l clearly shown in Fig. 2.

e6 designates a fly wheel and a7 a belt wheel mounted on the shaft ll toprovide for operating the machine with other than hand power.

The apertures in the several sieves L8 and 29 are sized, relatively, toeffect the required separations of the different grades or sizes of thepotatoes and in each sieve the said apertures are preferably arranged asis shown in the detail view Fig. 6 by reference to which it will be seenthat they are arranged in rows, as follows: Starting at the head end ofthe sieve is a row of elliptically shaped apertures 33 having theirmajor axes disposed in a line parallel with the length of the sieve.Next is a row of like shaped apertures 33 disposed so their minor axeslie in the same direction and then follows a row of circular shapedapertures 33, after which the same order of disposal is repeated and soon throughout the full length of the sieve. At the discharge or lowerends, the sieves 28 and 29 each have a series of pendent fingers orprojections 5% that form guards for closing the spaces between the saidlower ends of the sieves and the boards l0 and 23 when the said lowerends are raised above the boards 19 and 23 as illustrated in detail inFig. they being provided to prevent the potatoes getting underneath thesaid ends of the sieves. These guard fingers 54: do not extend the full,

width of the sieve to allow the outer edges of the sieves to freelyengage the notches in the plates 31, it being apparent that since thesieve plates are not fixedly secured, other than by one end resting inthe seats in the cross members 26 and 27 at their head ends and theother end engaging the notched plates 31, the said sieve plates can bealmost instantly lifted and adjusted to their desired positions and heldwithout bolting or other permanent connection, it being also apparentthat to change the inclination of the sieves the head end thereof israised to disengage the offset or seat in the cross mem bers 2627 beforementioned, and then slightly pushed back to disengage the front end fromthe notches in the plates 31 and after the said front end has beenbrought to the desired inclination and adjusted to engage the desiredones of the notches in the plates 31 the upper end of the sieve willdrop back into its offset or seat, and be thus retained in its adjustedposition.

By reason of the construction of the parts and their cooperativearrangement, as described, it will be readily apparent from the drawingsthat when shaft 41 is rotated by hand or power, a reciprocating motionis imparted to the shaker through the eccentric and its rod 39.

The potatoes are entered through the hopper 13 and are deflected downonto the sieve 28 by the cross guard 12. In passing over the top sieve28 the smaller sizes will drop through the apertures 33 onto the secondsieve 29, the smallest sizes being conveyed to the head end of the saidsieve 29 by the adjustable deflector or guide 32, the larger sizes thatdo not pass through the sieve 28 discharging therefrom through the endchute 1 1-.

The second sieve 29 being provided with apertures of a smaller size willassort another size, or seconds, and these are discharged through thechute 16 at the back end of the machine, the sizes that pass through thesieve 29 dropping onto a sieve 30, that is fixedly mounted on the crossbars 21 and 22 are separated from the dirt and refuse that falls throughthe sieve, and pass out into the side discharging chute 15.

lVhile I have shown and described but two sieves and a screen, it isobvious that a shaker frame equipped with a greater number of saidsieves and relatively arranged as those shown, might be used foreffecting a greater assortment in sizes, it being also apparent that acrank might be used in place of the eccentric for imparting the desiredmotion to the shaker and other changes or modifications of the detailsshown and de scribed might be made without departing from my inventionas coming within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination of the mainframe, a single shaker frame mounted therein, and means for actuatingthe shaker frame, said shaker frame including a plurality of transversesupports at the opposite end, a plurality of sieves, one end of each ofthe said sieves being pivotally mounted at one end on the correspondingend of the cross support and having the other end projecting over andbeyond the other cross support, each of the said projected ends of thesieve having pendent guard fingers and means on the shaker frame forsustaining the said projected ends of the sieve at variableinclinations.

2. In a machine of the character stated, the combination with the mainframe and the shaker frame supported therein, said frame including anupper cross member and a lower cross member, the upper cross memberhaving a shouldered seat the notched plates on the sides of the shakerframe in advance of the cross member and a sieve plate whose upper endis adapted to rest in the seat, whose lower end extends beyond the crossmember and is adapted for engagement with the notched plates, the saidfront end having a series of pendent guard fingers.

3. In a machine of the character stated, a suitable supporting frame, ashaker frame mounted therein, means for actuating the said shaker frame,the said shaker frame including a plurality of sets of upper and lowercross bars, a plurality of sieves, one for each set of upper and lowercross bars, said sieves being loosely sustained at their upper ends onthe upper cross bars and. having their lower ends projected beyond thelower cross bars, means on the shaker frame for holding the lower endsof the sieves at different inclinations and other means on the projectedends of the sieve for preventing the potatoes from passing out over thecross bar over which the lower end of the sieves project.

J GEN ALFRED BITTLE. Witnesses C. A. MoYER, ISAAC C. BITTLE.

